By Lauren McCauley | Editor
“We routinely thank people for contributions. … We try to thank everybody.” - Steve Abbott, Susan Collins’ campaign manager, responding to reports the senator had wanted to thank Martin Kao, the former Navatek CEO who made a $150,000 donation to her super PAC through a shell company.
Republican gubernatorial nominee Bobby Charles with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie during a Sept. 23 town hall in Lewiston. (Photo by Eesha Pendharkar/Maine Morning Star)
ELECTION 2026
By Eesha Pendharkar
At a town hall in Lewiston joined by Chris Christie, Bobby Charles hopscotched across the Republican Party line.
Campaigning with the former New Jersey governor 41 days before the Nov. 3 midterms, the GOP gubernatorial nominee broke with the Trump administration on several key issues affecting Maine, including tariffs and environmental policy, while echoing the president on others.
ENERGY
By Kaitlyn Budion
The Maine Department of Energy Resources reported last week that the average statewide price of heating oil was $5.77 per gallon, a 74% increase from this time last year. The department estimated that it will now cost nearly $675 more this year to fill a standard 275-gallon oil tank.
ELECTION 2026
By Emma Davis
As U.S. Sen. Susan Collins has repeatedly defied odds to hold onto her seat by touting her ability to bring in federal money to Maine, Democrats have tried to target that defense by leveling corruption accusations, so far to no avail.
Now, they see new reporting alleging the incumbent Republican’s involvement in a pay-for-play scheme as a turning point that could upend the nationally relevant race six weeks out from the election.
ENVIRONMENT
By Alex Brown, Stateline
The Trump administration’s top wildlife official issued a directive last week that expands a recent rollback of endangered species protections much further than the feds had told the public.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
ProPublica debunks Susan Collins’ claims about FBI anti-corruption probe | William Turton, Molly Redden, Avi Asher-Schapiro and Kirsten Berg, ProPublica
Flock surveillance cameras raise constitutional questions, bipartisan US senators say | Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
False birth control claims are proliferating, survey says | Sofia Resnick, Stateline
Justin Trudeau says Trump’s ‘win-lose’ approach is hurting U.S.-Canada relations at Brown lecture | Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current
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